KMC to go digital; first online trade licence application launched

Our Correspondent
Kohima, June 20 (EMN): Taking the functioning of the municipal council into the digital platform, in a first of its kind in Nagaland, the Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) has launched the online trade licence application cum issuance system under e-municipality as a service (eMaaS) reforms under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation (AMRUT) on June 20.
The programme, a joint initiative of KMC, National Information Centre (NIC) and Urban Development department, government of Nagaland was launched by minister for Urban Development and Municipal Affairs and Taxes, Metsubo Jamir.
Congratulating the KMC, Jamir opined the implications of this programme will be felt all over the city towards resolving a lot of problems faced by the citizens and traders of Kohima while also improving work efficiency from both sides.
While stating that obtaining trade licence is a privilege to many unemployed locals for their livelihood and sustainability, he however, lamented that Nagas have the habit of obtaining trade licence and selling off to others.
Pointing this as a ‘genuine and serious problem’, Jamir has asked the KMC to be careful while issuing trade licence towards identifying genuine entrepreneurs, which he said will help in uplifting actual local people to start up business.
Administrator KMC Elizabeth Ngully expressed pride in launching the first online trade licence application cum issuance system bringing the service to the doorsteps of the people of Kohima.
She was optimistic that this will bring more accountability and transparency in its functioning and also give more time for other productive works.
Stating this as a much needed services in today’s time, Deputy Commissioner Rajesh Soundararajan has maintained that the system should be continuously updated for improvised and efficient delivery system.
Giving a presentation on the system, Novotsono, scientist ‘B’ NIC said the first phase will include process flow and SMS notification which will soon be enhanced with e-mail notification, online application submission by licence holders and payment gateway integration for online payment.
Other municipal councils of Nagaland, she said may be on-boarded under ServicePlus framework and services configured as per requirements. Public grievances and redress system and advertisements will be configured for implementation of eMaaS reforms under AMRUT, she informed.
Novotsono also pointed out that with digital India gaining momentum, the government is placing lots of emphasis on improving government’s interface with citizens and businesses. In view of this, she said, there has been a surge in the demand of end-to-end workflow-based ICT solutions for delivering services to citizens and businesses.
ServicePlus, she said is a powerful framework and most of the features required for e-service delivery are already available whereby the citizens, rural local bodies, urban local bodies, state departments, work flow players and kiosks operators can be facilitated for e-service delivery under this framework.